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Easy Access Showers
Being able to get around the bathroom is one of the keys to an independent lifestyle, and manufacturers are responding to this with a wide variety of products to help.
Showers are much easier to use than baths. Make sure you pick a shower tray that is easy to access (low level or flush with the floor) with a textured surface that will help prevent slips.
There are trays that have been designed to fill the space previously occupied by a bath.
Some suppliers of easy access showers and accessories:
AKW Medicare
Bathtime Mobility
Eurocare
Impey UK
Practical Bathing
Pressalit Care
Wet
floor shower areas are increasingly popular as an alternative to fitting
a shower tray, providing completely open and level access. They are ideal
for wheelchair users, and a good choice where it is not practical to install
a tray.
A number of companies now produce wet floor formers, with an inbuilt
gradient to assist drainage. These are laid level with the existing
floor and then the whole area can be covered with a non-slip vinyl,
to give a waterproof 
surface without any lips or ramps.
Impey UK's new Courtier range, above left, includes a wet floor former with integral drain, and elegantly designed chrome and polished aluminium accessories, including a floor to ceiling pole which doubles as a support.
Specially designed doors and screens, which can be fitted directly to a wet floor, make an enclosure to suit the space and the user's needs.
On the right, Eurocare's Inspirations full-height chrome and glass screen has been designed to fit their X-Dex wet floor former.
The
level access tray shown on the left from AKW Medicare incorporates
a special grip strip along the edge, to seal the tray to the floor in
a completely watertight way.
It provides a shower facility that can be accessed on foot or in a wheeled chair. Built-in reinforced steel sections ensure that the trade is robust enough to withstand wheelchair access.
Doors,
curtains or a cubicle will complete your shower facility. Curtains are
cheaper than doors, but do not retain the water so well. You might like
to consider half-height or barn style doors, which allow someone to help
with washing, if that is necessary.
Make sure that doors open wide enough to allow for easy entry, aren't too heavy, and give good protection against water seepage.
Air-assisted
doors like these on the left are particularly useful for larger,
bath replacement trays.
They can be moved easily from open to closed position, even by someone with a weakened grip.
See also the bathroom products in the Professional section
Interested in making your bathroom safer? Visit our bathroom safety section
